Aaron Rodgers, the lightning rod of controversy who just so happens to also be the best quarterback in the NFL, apparently does not want to come to play in the world’s most powerful city.
Yesterday, ESPN’s Dianna Russini reported Rodgers will inform Green Bay “of his decision soon" and that “there are multiple teams with offers on the table” for the reigning NFL MVP should the Packers decide to trade him.
So, are the Washington Commanders among the teams attempting to make a move for Rodgers?
“So the sense I get, is that Washington is not in this game,” Russini told The Team 980’s Kevin Sheehan Friday.
Why hasn’t Ron Rivera, who reportedly are planning to “comb the big-ticket quarterback market” this offseason, attempted to get into the Rodgers sweepstakes with an offer on the table?
“Because this is gonna come down to where Aaron Rodgers wants to go,” Russini said. “This isn’t gonna be, let’s just say, the Commanders come up with a big haul and able to give the best situation to the Green Bay Packers and they say, ‘Sorry, dude we’re just gonna do it.’ That’s not, from what I can gather, how it's gonna work.
“He’s gonna request a trade, if this is what he decides to do, and then he has teams that he wants to go to. And from what I’ve learned – and I know of those teams – and the Commanders are not [among] them. So long story short, he does not want to play in Washington,” Russini told The Team 980.
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When asked why the Commanders would not be among Rodgers’ desired teams, Russini said she wasn’t sure what caused their exclusion from any list of preferred destinations that may exist.
Of course, the Packers will still have to come to decide to trade Rodgers. Sheehan asked Russini what sense she had about the Packers' interest in parting with their franchise quarterback?
“And in terms of the Green Bay Packers, at this point, they are putting together the best possible situation, contract, lifestyle, player, roster, coaches, everything,” Russini said on The Team 980. “Essentially like a list, he didn’t have a list, but let’s say Aaron Rodgers gave the Packers just this list, almost like a honey-do, ‘Get this done, and I’ll be happier.’ And it seems that that’s kinda what they’ve been attacking over the last few weeks. And they do not want to trade him. They do not want to trade him at all.”
Russini revealed to Sheehan one thing Rodgers wants: “He wants 50 million a year. At 38 years old, he wants to be the highest-paid player in the NFL by a wide margin.
“And you look at that number 50 million, you compare it to the rest of the quarterbacks that just got paid – Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Dak Prescott – they’re all in the 40s, low 40s now. It’s significantly more, and those guys are a lot younger,” Russini said. “But this is what he wants and this is what the Green Bay Packers are gonna try to get done.”
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While Russini declined to name teams who had made inquiries to the Packers about Rodgers, she did say that Green Bay at one point had a preference to send Rodgers to the AFC.
“So one of the stipulations, so to speak, I know from the Packers was they really do not want it to be a team in the NFC,” she said. “That was something that, early on, when they were having these conversations and realizing that this is the path that it could go, they really want him to stay out of the NFC.”
When asked for a prediction about Rodgers' future, Russini, based on her "gut feeling" and just her opinion, said he will stay with the Packers.
"I think he goes back to Green Bay," Russini told Sheehan. "I think after all this, this wild, entertaining, dramatic, attention-seeking tour, so to speak, the last year, I think in the end that's where he knows he belongs and I think that's where he thinks he can win. I won't be shocked if he asks for a trade, I just think he's gonna go back."
Follow @BenKrimmel and @Team980 for the latest.
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